by Jayme Hunt

Created on: December 25, 2008   Last Updated: June 17, 2009

Example Raw Food Diet Menu for Dogs

Description: An example Raw Food Diet menu for how I feed my older dogs each day.

Many people, after they've decided to move from a kibble diet to a raw food diet, haven't any idea where to start in order to select a healthful meal for their dog. Considering this, I thought I'd share an example meal I give my own older (age 10 and 12) dogs and why I decided on those items and times. My dogs are older and don't need as much as a pup would. So for an older dog, the menu looks like:

Unlimited throughout the day
Fresh water in a glass bowl
Cauliflower
Carrots
Tomatoes
Asparagus
Green Bell Pepper

Breakfast
3-5% of their weight in pork riblets

Training treats
Apricots
10 raw almonds

Afternoon
2 tablespoons pumpkin
2-4 ounces organic cranberry juice

Evening
1 Turkey tail ( if they've been active or if it's very cold outside)
Supplements
1 Digestive enzyme tablet
1 Chlorella tablet
1 Flax oil tablet
1 Fish oil tablet
1 Brewer's Yeast tablet

For my older dogs, I make sure they've got a 40-30-30 ratio of meat-bone-fat. The meat gives the building blocks for new muscle to develop as well as a stringy consistency for cleaning back teeth. Bone provides the right kind of digestible calcium for a dog's body. Fat, thought to be a bad thing in human diets, provides the opportunity for a dog to floss" their front teeth and helps their digestive tract get the right pH level.

The veggies are selected from all colors available and should include at least one from each color family.
Tomatoes are high in the antioxidant vitamins beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E, as well as the carotenoid lycopene. This means that tomatoes are helpful in preventing heart disease and cancers. Tomatoes are also high in potassium but very low in sodium which means they help combat high blood pressure and fluid retention.

Asparagus is one of the most nutritionally well-balanced vegetables, providing potassium, fiber, folacin, thiamin, vitamin B6, rutin (an antioxidant). It also contains glutathione (GSH). GSH is one of the most potent anti carcinogens and antioxidants found.
Cauliflower provides indole-3-carbinol (13C), the photonutrient sulforaphane, vitamin C, folate, vitamin E and betacarotene.
Carrots provide beta-carotene, which turns into Vitamin A in the intestines. They also provide fiber, antioxidants, and crucial minerals.

Our selection of fruits are used mostly as treats more than an unlimited sort of food. I select fruits that are easy to carry

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>